Beam Propagation Equation

WSR-88D Range Height Equation

The Range vs. Height diagram shown in Figure 11 is based on the WSR-88D Range Height Equation assuming standard refractive conditions. Equation (12) is the mathematical expression used to derive the height (h) curves in the diagram. For consistency, the height calculations generated by all WSR-88D algorithms use the following equation:

NOTE: This equation is used by the WSR-88D Radar Product Generator (RPG) to compute radar beam heights. AWIPS radar beam height readouts may not match these heights exactly because AWIPS uses a slightly different formula in its computations.